Kingdom Hearts: Inheritance
by WhimsicalFiend
Summary: A continuation of the Kingdom Hearts storyline, some years in the future. The Keyblade Master Academy reopens. New students go forth to face the Heartless threat! Will they be able to save Sora from a terrible fate?
1. Prologue

**Kingdom Hearts: Inheritance**

_Prologue_

"Sora can't keep doing that forever, there has to be another way!"

"You are right, King Mickey. He cannot. I believe we would be well served to look to the works of our former masters for inspiration."

"Wait, you mean... reopen the Keyblade Master Academy?"

"That was but one outcome that I have been considering for some time, though it cannot be myself that undertakes such an endeavor."

"Begging your pardon, Master Yen Sid... Sir... but why not?"

The grey bearded sorceror dressed in fine blue robes then turned sharply on his heel, no longer directing his steel-grey gaze out of the moon-shaped window that looked out upon the starry blackness surrounding the tower. Instead, he snapped his attention onto that of his former apprentice. "I have always held myself personally responsible for Xehanort's corruption going unchecked. I cannot allow for such a mistake again, and my new purpose here is part of that endeavor. I will continue to monitor the balance of light and darkness here where my power is greatest, and be able to keep you informed."

Mickey sighed, having already known the reason, yet was hoping he hadn't needed to hear it again. "Please reconsider... I don't think I can do this alone." he replied, looking down to the floor.

"Have confidence, King Mickey. Alone is one thing that you most certainly are not," came the reply, immediately getting the anthropomorphic mouse's attention back with a start. "Merlin has shared much of his knowledge with me and I believe he will be a helpful ally in reestablishing the Academy now that his work at Radiant Garden is effectively completed."

Mickey gave his trademark laugh at this. "You've got that right! His team sure did a bang-up job!" he noted enthusiastically.

Yen Sid nodded to this before continuing, "As well, you are already versed in administering the Mark of Mastery Exam, Sora and Riku having been supervised and graded by you personally. I see no reason why this could not then extend to other students."

Considering this for a moment, King Mickey recalled the memories he had of their exam. It certainly was not like a typical Mark of Mastery exam as he had it explained to him, mostly because of both of their prolonged experience with Keyblades, having developed a lot of their training on their own, and because they had both gone through so much to get to that point with their experiences varying rather wildly. "Very well, you can count on me!"

Mickey was about two steps from dashing out of the room door and down the tower's so-called 'weirdest spiralling staircase in existance' before stopping himself short. "Can't really reopen the Academy without any students though...how am I supposed to find them?"

To this, the old sorceror smiled and seated himself back at his desk, summoning a large tome onto the surface of the desk, already open to the page he required. "Perhaps you've forgotten, Master Mickey, about how you came into possesion of your own Keyblade. The only requirement to wield one is an exceptionally strong heart, " he began to explain.

Tilting his head quizzically, Mickey returned to the desk to see what exactly Master Yen Sid had laid out with his book. "I'm not sure I understand you, sir."

"A Keyblade chooses it's wielder," he stated in his usual stern manner, "You fearlessly plunged into the Realm of Darkness to seek one, and thereby obtained it. There was even a time when Riku was able to pull the Kingdom Keyblade right from Sora's hands simply because he had a stronger will. All Keyblades are attracted to those that posess certain qualities, though being connected to the heart of another keybearer certainly helps."

"Oh, I get it now! We just have to let a keyblade point the way!" came Mickey's revelation.

The page that Yen Sid had open appeared to be instructions on a sort of ritual. Something that outlined how to awaken the power of a keyblade within a person's heart. "There may be hundreds of keyblade weilders out there now that don't even know it yet. All they require is something to bring that light to the surface."

Mickey and Yen Sid both read out the title of the ritual simultaneously.

"The Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony"

* * *

><p>Author's Notes and Disclaimer: I'm releasing this story before KH3 and Dream Drop Distance, and I can honestly say I haven't played Coded or it's remake. Special thanks to a couple of my friends who helped me edit and review, and my wife who helped me find the confidence to work on this. All characters belong to their respective owners (namely Disney and Square Enix for the most part), save any original ones. They belong to me.<p>

Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1

**Kingdom Hearts: Inheritance**

_Chapter 1_

"Cael, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

The crimson haired boy awoke with a start, roused by the voice of his friend and twisting about to meet her cerulean gaze. Framed by glasses glinting in the sunlight and complimented by a short, front-swept haircut of navy blue, she certainly had an educated and attractive look to her. "Gimme a break, Reki! How am I supposed to be cool if I can't take a rest now and then?"

This drew a brief laugh from Reki as she extended a hand to him, partly as a hint to get him to stand up from the spot on the grass where she found him. "At this rate, we'll never be done training! Besides that, Master Mickey has asked all three of us to meet him down in the Hall of the Cornerstone as soon as we can."

Taking her hand, Cael glanced around the courtyard garden at the mention of the third person supposedly coming with them. It also reminded him why he came down here in the first place for a rest as the greenery surrounded by the alabaster stone work (and topped by royal blue spires) was quite an idyllic setting. He quietly wondered to himself why more people didn't stop off here to relax. "Well, if we're all supposed to go... then where is Tsuna?"

To this, Reki gave him an abashed look. "I was sort of hoping you'd know. As much as we all have an 'unbreakable connection of friendship', that boy is continuously elusive whenever he's needed," she admitted, mockingly quoting a line from Mickey that became a sort of inside joke between the three friends.

"Seriously?" asked a crestfallen Cael, exaggerating the impact of her statement like it physically hurt him. "I guess we'll have to go look for him."

"If you had to track me down again after finding him, we'd be wasting even more time," she pointed out. "I'll run ahead and let Master Mickey know what the plan is, and then we can all meet in the Hall of the Cornerstone after you've found him. Or he's found you. I need to ask Mickey a few questions anyways... about some stuff... so don't feel too rushed," she added, sort of cryptically.

Heading back to the doors of the 'toonishly warped' castle interior, Reki split off towards the throne room. "Good luck!" she told Cael as he followed her with his eyes, signature scarf and sandles disappearing around a corner before he established his bearings.

"Actually, I think I know just where to go..." he figured aloud.

The sound of clanging metal coming from a room down the hall told Cael exactly what he needed. This was a room they visited often together but it was certainly never used for its original intended purpose. With King Mickey's decision to create a new Keyblade Master Academy, what was once a storage room for the Shield Guardians had become a makeshift training room. One that Tsuna liked to spend a lot of time in.

Rounding the corner of the doorway, Cael watched patiently as the youth with jet black hair and emerald highlights finished his set against a training dummy. Landing solidly on the toes of black coloured boots after an impressive aerial finisher, Tsuna remained kneeling upon the stonework. Keyblade vanishing into wispy nothingness, he allowed himself a few moments to catch his breath after the strain. All this while knowing fully well that he was being watched by a smiling Cael leaning against the nearby wall.

"Pretty intense! Those heartless won't know what hit them." Cael complimented, walking closer to give him a hand up if he needed it. The friendly gesture went unacknowledged though as Tsuna stood again on his own, turning his bright red eyes to regard his friend with a touch of scorn.

"You say that as if we won't be fighting for our lives out there. The protection of this castle won't be around forever, Cael. We have a duty expected of us, and it's important to be prepared for whatever comes," he noted to his more light-hearted companion, though it was a line he seemed to echo on a regular basis. "You really should take training more seriously."

Cael feigned being upset by his friend's accusation. "I do take it seriously! ...most of the time," he tried to protest, finding his argument squashed by the fact that he did sort of admire Tsuna's dedication. "Like right now, I'm here to let you know we're all supposed to meet down in the Hall of the Cornerstone," Cael added, perking up as he remembered his task at hand.

Tsuna considered this for a moment, and all it might imply. "Well then... This could be it! Maybe we should get in one last sparring session. You know, just to make sure you're ready?" he suggested with a smug look, dusting off the protective shoulder plate he wore with a gloved hand, which complimented the rest of his training garb. While the outfit was little more than black canvas pants with green kneeguards that matched his hair and a black tank top, it gave him the mobility he needed to take on anything.

Cael agreed to this, already wearing similar looking gear but themed instead with a blue tank top and sneakers. Also worth noting was a lack of knee guards on his pants, and all of it paired with a black jacket sporting white trim and an emblazoned blue armband as a personal style choice that he tended to wear everywhere. Shrugging, he materialized his pale yellow looking Keyblade. "You're on, man. But we shouldn't take too long."

Tsuna smiled, glad to have a proper training partner over a dummy any time he could. Resummoning his own sword, the match ensued.

Cael's natural skill and unpredictable fighting style eventually won, laying Tsuna out on the training floor in pain and holding up an open hand as a signal to yield. "Owww... I think that will do! I still want to be able to walk to the Hall..." he groaned, picking himself up and making his blade once again fade out.

However, Cael didn't escape unscathed either. "You really went all out, Tsuna. Almost had me a few times there..." he complimented while massaging a couple of bruises, knowing full well how much his brother-in-arms secretly hated to lose. But this only got him another smoldering condemnation.

"Don't mention it. You know King Mickey doesn't like it when we spar while unsupervised. Let's not keep him waiting too much longer." Tsuna reminded him, making to leave the training room ahead of Cael.

Cael responded with one of his usual embarrassed grins, crediting why they fought in the first place up to the the fact that they were still just impulsive teenagers. "Oh yeah... right. We've got to get moving," came his reply as he picked up the pace a bit, catching up to Tsuna as they both rounded the corner towards the Hall, chuckling about their mischief as only best friends would.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: It might be interesting to learn that the names I chose for the characters were quite specific. For example, while Cael sounds like a type of lettuce, it is actually based on the word for Sky in Latin. Similarly, Tsuna is for Sand in Japanese but I'm pretty sure some fans would figure that one out quickly. Lastly, Reki took a bit of work to come up with, but it's from the word for River in Slovenian. Pretty wild, hey? Once again, all characters belong to their respective owners: this is a work of fan fiction. Enjoy and please review!<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

**Kingdom Hearts: Inheritance**

_Chapter 2_

The red carpeted halls were rather well laid out. It was only when one ventured down to the servant quarters where somebody could get easily turned around. Cael and Tsuna had no reason to explore there now in any case; their current destination was the Audience Chamber, which stood as the only access to the Cornerstone of Light along with being an effective barricade if the castle ever came under attack. Thankfully it was easy to find as the almost-comically large purple doors looked out onto the courtyard where Cael had previously been taking a nap.

But their trip to the chamber was not completely uneventful as they ran into another regular around the castle that they knew quite well. He too was in training, but not to become a keyblade master. Rather, he was a squire in the Order of Shield Knights that King Mickey employed as his elite guard to protect Disney Castle and its surrounding town. As well, he did not receive training from the king himself but instead reported to the leader of the Shield Knights... whom also happened to be his father. And both he and his father were anthropomorphic dogs.

"Max!" echoed Tsuna's voice down the large hall, getting his attention and causing his black and floppy ears to perk up. "Not 'goofing' off again, are you?" Tsuna added in usual fashion, getting a chuckle out of Cael.

Max had heard it many times before, and had come to take it in stride even if his father did frustrate him sometimes. Rolling his eyes, he replied, "Hey, give me a break! You know I'd be down at the skateboard circuit with Bobby and Peej in a heartbeat if I wasn't stuck here today. They've got me as a 'gopher' for the Gummy Ship Maintenance Crew. I guess they have something big planned."

Cael raised a skeptical eyebrow at this. "Wait, Chip and Dale? How much coffee can two chipmunks drink?"

This just made Max burst into laughter. "Ahahah hyuk... Good one, Cael. But I've gotta get back to work. Say 'hi' to Reki for me, hey?"

The shield-bearing squire then went on his way, leaving Cael feeling sort of awkward when he realized that Tsuna was still standing next to him giving him a smirk. Cael just shot an inquiring side-long glance at him. "What? It was a legit question..."

They continued around the next corner and through a large door, finally arriving at the open-air hallway with it's enormous enterance to the Audience Chamber. Cael remembered the first time they passed through here, having expected to give the door a hearty shove to even budge it when he quickly learned about the much smaller door built into the bigger one. The resulting excess of force had sent him stumbling into the brightly lit and expansive throne room.

He'd since learned better, but the throne room was still no less impressive. Waiting at the enterance way, the platform covering it already having been slid to the side, was Queen Minnie who nodded in greeting. "Hello trainees! The king and Reki are waiting for you inside. Please come this way."

Tsuna just sort of shrugged. He had commented in the past that the Queen was quite fond of her formal routine, but didn't much care for it himself. Though he'd never say it to her face, it still showed. "I wonder why we're meeting down by the Cornerstone though... The only other time we got to see it was during the tour," noted Tsuna aloud, half to Queen Minnie and half to himself.

As they entered though, it was King Mickey that looked to answer his inquiry. "Ah, Tsuna! Cael! There you are. And it's funny you should ask that question as Reki had asked the same thing. But now that you're all here, I can explain," their large-eared master had spoken, looking rather excited about this as well and dressed in an outfit he tended to use for it's mobility.

The round and mystical Cornerstone shone brightly behind him, Reki flashing a smile at Cael before pausing and then narrowing her eyes in accusing inquiry. She must have suspected they had dueled again, but how she always figured this stuff out so quickly had Cael perplexed.

Their noble teacher didn't see it though, or if he did then he knew when to let it slide and get on with their training session. "As you may all recall, when you were first chosen as Keybearers, you barely had the power to summon your weapon at all. If you could present them now, please?" he requested with a gesture.

Standing before the king and the soft glow of the Cornerstone of Light, all three kids raised their hands and brought forth their keyblades from the ether. "Back then, I provided you all with keychains that helped bring out your heart's potential. This is why they all look very similar, even though every keyblade takes on some properties of its wielder," Mickey continued, referring to the fact that they all looked much like the Kingdom Key except with distinct color differences between the hilts. Also, from all of them dangled a silver emblem that resembled Mickey's head; a common motif around Disney Castle.

Lowering their keyblades, they continued to listen. "But now that you've had time to hone your abilities, and build up new friendships, I believe your hearts should be strong enough to properly bear the true forms of your Keyblades. Here in the Hall of the Cornerstone, close to the brightest light of this world, I think will be your best chance for success. I'd like for you to remove your Keychain charms now," he instructed, the three trainees all glancing at each other in surprise before proceeding.

Reki was the first to unequip hers, the whole thing shimmering like water before reforming into a sapphiric and curvy weapon, to the point of appearing harmless and fragile. The hilt was more of a heart shape now, while the teeth appeared to be depicting a sunrise. Reki spoke, instinctively knowing its name. "Rising River..."

The two boys looked on in awe as they witnessed this, and then eagerly set about to see their own trueform weapons. Tsuna was ready next, but he seemed to have some trouble keeping it summoned as it turned to sand, whirling about his arm before reforming into a... reverse keyblade. The teeth of it were up near his elbow, depicting a black tower while the handle appeared to shield his wrist, making it look more like a punching weapon than one for slashing. Which would mean he'd have to get up close in melee range to dish out damage, but Tsuna was never afraid of doing just that. "Stepping Stone," came its name.

Cael finally managed to get his unlocked as well. "Aha, there we go..." he said just before the entire thing disappeared into sparks. Tsuna nearly started laughing before he realized it wasn't over. A gust picked up through the entire room, which was weird because they were both indoors and underground. The wind became solid in form, the sparks returning and coalescing into a golden key that faded to crimson at the end, featuring wings as its teeth and hilt. "It's... Waking Wind." Cael realized, adding it's name to the the others and holding his weapon high and proudly.

"Excellent work! All of you!" Mickey cheered, Queen Minnie also looking on with admiration. "Now... you will all need to create keychains for yourselves that you feel best represent you. They will help improve your focus and bond with your weapon." he told them, though it fell mostly on deaf ears as the three kids were all caught up with how cool their personalized keys were.

That is, until Max came dashing down the stairs into the chamber with a look of panic. "King Mickey! Your Highness, sir, you've got to come quickly! Sora's Gummy Ship has returned to the castle... but it's empty! And a whole mess of Heartless flyers came through the corridor behind it!"

King Mickey knew he'd have to take command of the situation immediately, leaving the kids behind. "Looks like this lesson will have to continue later. C'mon Max, we need to get back down to the Hangar and scramble those fighters! I don't want any more getting through!" and with that his yellow shoes disappeared up the staircase. None of the kids wanted to be left out of the action though and all of them gave chase to offer their help, Cael leading the way. And all of them had the same thought echoing in their mind: "Sora's gone missing?"

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: I actually came up with the name for their keyblades some time ago but I had a hell of a time coming up with their descriptions. Bit of a shame that their ceremony is so short... and yes, Max Goof is going to be an important part of the story, along with a spell casting companion, but I'm not telling who it's going to be just yet. :D<p>

All characters belong to their respective creators, primarily being Disney and Square Enix; this is a work of fan fiction. Enjoy and please review or comment!


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